Small Press Expo Coming This Weekend.
The Small Press Expo (also known as SPX) is coming September 11-12 to the Marriot Bethesda North Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Guests include Kate Beaton, Jaime Hernandez, Dean Haspiel, Keith Knight, Raina Telgenmeier and many more. As well as guests, vendors and panel programming, the convention will also contain the Ignatz Awards for comics. The con is open from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, and admission ranges from $10 for one day to $15 for the weekend, with admission collected at the door on the day of the show. The Marriot Bethesda North Conference Center is located at 5701 North Marinelli Road, Bethesda, MD.
ICv2 Conference on Comics and Digital Set for Oct. 7
The comics and pop culture trade news website ICv2 is organizing a one-day Conference on Comics and Digital, set to take place on the eve of New York Comic-con from 1-5pm on Thursday, October 7. The conference will focus on the impact of digital technology on everything from publishing and selling to creating comics and will be held in association with New York Comic-con, which will take place October 8-10 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York. The ICv2 Conference on Comics and Digital is also co-sponsored by Publishers Weekly.
Justin Beiber Cease & Desists Bluewater Comics
Bluewater Comics, the publisher known for such unauthorized biography comics as Female Force: Sarah Palin and Puppy Power: Bo Obama has been served with a cease and desist notice from a representatives of Justin Beiber and possibly Lady Gaga for their unauthorized biography comics. Heading up the opposition to the comics is licensing attorney Kenneth Feinswog who, according to BleedingCool.com, unsuccessfully pursued a similar lawsuit in the 90's against Revolutionary Comics on behalf of Motley Crue and New Kids on the Block. According to publisher Darren G. Davis, Bluewater Comics is planning on fighting this case as a first amendment issue. For more information, see this article in The Washington Post's Comic Riffs blog.
Girl Genius wins the Hugo Award – Again
Phil and Kaja Foglio's webcomic Girl Genius has won the Graphic Story award at this year's prestigious Hugo SF awards for the second year running. This is even more significant in light of the fact that this will only be the Graphic Story award's second year – the only two graphic novel Hugos both belong to the Foglios. The Hugo awards, given out at the annual World Science Fiction Convention, are named after science fiction pioneer Hugo Gernsbeck and along with the Nebulas are one of the two biggest awards in fantasy and science fiction.
A Comic-Con for the Middle East
Breaking new ground, The Middle East Film and Comic Convention, a large full-scale comics and pop culture convention with a projected attendance of 10,000 – 15,000 has just been announced. Coming March 2011, the convention will be hosted at Abu Dhabi's National Convention Center in the United Arab Emirates and will be the first of its kind. More details are available in this article on Arabnews.com.
This Week @ Good Comics For Kids
This week School Library Journal’s blog Good Comics for Kids had an interview of Traci Todd of manga publisher Viz Kids, a “reviewing kids' manga” roundtable discussion, an analysis of the kid-appeal of Yotsuba&?, a discussion of the Graphic Novel Reporter's Core Manga for Kids list, the 9/7 listing of “What We're Reading This Week”, andthe 9/1 listing of comics suitable for all ages.
This Week @ The Beat
This week PWCW editor Heidi MacDonald’s blog The Beat covered Eisner-winning comics creator Darwyn Cooke's impromptu rant on what is wrong with modern superhero comics in depth, addressing both the controversy surrounding it and the possible justice of his claims, this fall's graphic novel “coming attractions” courtesy of Torsten Adair, the new location and programming of Stumptown Comicsfest, what comics creator Mark Waid says he really meant by his impromptu digital comics speech at the Harvey awards and the late comics creator Harvey Pekar's disputed legacy.
